Thunderbirds - Halloween Special: On Leather Wings
by SatNavDan
Summary: On Halloween Night, a mysterious explosion in South London reveals a mysterious bat-creature into the night sky. The following day it causes havoc in the City endangering several builders and forcing International Rescue to come to their aid. When the creature then attacks in broad daylight, Daniel, Rosie and the rest of the girls must work to discover what, or who this is.
1. Pre-Titles

A LITTLE leafy suburb on the outskirts of Croydon, England. It was Halloween night and a group of ten children aged between four and twelve were walking around between the houses playing Trick-or-Treat. It was a strong tradition in this area where everyone got on with one another and every household got in extra treats knowing that children would come calling.

The children's names in this group were Marcus (aged 12) who was dressed as a wizard, Paul (aged 7) dressed as a pirate, Sarah (aged 9) dressed as a witch, Jackie (aged 12) also dressed as a witch, Simon (aged 7) dressed as a pumpkin, Joseph (aged 4) dressed as a ghost, Melanie (aged 6) dressed as an evil fairy, Emma (aged 10) dressed as a witch, Peter (aged 8) dressed as a pirate and Annie (aged 5) dressed as a ghost. All were well known in the area and dearly loved - except for one man who lived with his wife in a house at the far end of the close. He was Dr Kirk Langstrom, a workaholic scientist who had no time for anybody other than his beloved wife Francine who was also a scientist. Francine, unlike her husband, always had time

"No tricks tonight," Marcus said to the group. "Everyone's been nice to us."

Simon was grumpy. "Can't we just throw our eggs anyway?" he asked.

"No, little brother, we can't," said Jackie severely. "Nobody wants eggs thrown at their house! I know Mum and Dad won't."

"How many more have we got left to do?" Emma asked Marcus. "I'm getting tired."

"And it's almost Annie and Joe's bedtime," added Sarah. "Mum doesn't like it when they're out late."

"Then you'll be happy to know that we only have one more stop to make," Marcus said. He pointed towards the house in question.

"Oh, that one!" said Emma uneasily. "I hope its not him who answers."

"He won't, Emma," Jackie said. "He never does."

"Why does he never?" asked Annie curiously.

Marcus and Jackie exchanged a look. They knew that Dr Langstrom didn't like children but that was probably not the right thing to say to young Annie.

"He's a couch potato," Jackie said. "He always watches TV so gets his wife to do things for him."

"He sounds boring," Annie remarked.

The group reached the front garden and headed up the path towards the front door. Little Melanie then pressed the doorbell.

"Trick or treat?" Annie and Joseph said together.

"They haven't even opened the door yet!" Simon scoffed.

But nobody came to the door. Instead there was just silence. However, they knew that the Langstrom's were in because the hall light was on. Also their cars were parked on the driveway.

"That's strange," remarked Emma. "Why aren't they answering?"

"Maybe they're busy," said Sarah. "Should we leave them?"

Marcus bent down and peered through the letterbox. But he couldn't see anything inside. "Yeah, let's go," he said. "I've had enough."

The group headed back down the path and began walking up the road towards their respective homes located in the neighbouring streets. They'd only gone about ten paces when something rather strange began to happen. First of all the street lamps began to flicker. So did the lights in the houses around them. Then there was a rumble and the ground shuddered slightly. Some dogs began barking loudly and several car alarms began to go off. The children looked around in confusion.

"What's happening?" asked Joseph.

"Jackie, I'm scared," Melanie said grabbing hold of Jackie's hand.

"What is that?" Emma asked.

Suddenly there was a horrendous BANG which came from the direction of the Langstrom's house. All turned just in time to see all the windows in the building shatter whilst the lights inside went out and bolts of electricity began shooting out into the street. Marcus and Jackie began to quickly usher the younger kids back up the road.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Marcus shouted.

The terrified children began to run along the road as fast as they could. But they hadn't gone far when a loud shrieking noise made them all freeze. They turned and looked back but couldn't see much in the dark. The shriek came again. Marcus indicated to Jackie to keep the others behind her whilst he slowly moved back towards the house. Several adults had come out of their houses trying to see what was going on. Then came yet another loud shriek and something large came swooping down towards Marcus. He barely had time to notice as it knocked him off his feet before charging directly over the other children still shrieking loudly. The little ones all screamed and huddled together in fright, not daring to look up.

"Marcus, are you okay?" Emma asked hurrying over to see if he was hurt.

Marcus had a nasty gash on his head, but otherwise was unhurt. "Ouch!" he exclaimed.

"What the hell is that?!" a man from a nearby house shouted. He was pointing up into the sky. Marcus and Emma looked up. So did Jackie and slowly the other kids began to as well. They started in disbelief at the shadowy shape of a giant bat silhouetted against the Moon.

5! (DUN)

4! (DUN)

3! (DUN)

2! (DUN)

1!

*Thunderbirds Theme Plays*

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"


	2. Act I

FAB1 headed down the main road leading into Croydon. The morning rush hour had passed but there were still a large number of vehicles on the road so progress wasn't as fast as Lady Penelope would've liked.

"Please find a shortcut if you can, Parker," Penelope said. "We really need to get there quickly."

"I'll try me best, m'lady," Parker replied. "Should I h'engage flight-mode?"

"In broad daylight in front of of others?" Penelope asked with a raised eyebrow. She was going to say more but stopped to think. "Actually, Parker, yes that might be the best option. Carry on."

Parker smirked. He enjoyed this part. After flicking a switch on the dashboard, FAB1's radiator grill changed into a jet-engine air-intake. Two wings spread out from underneath the vehicle and powerful thrusters lifted it off the ground, much to the astonishment of everyone who was either in their cars or walking along the pavement. One elderly man who was sitting outside a Wetherspoons spat out the cider he was drinking before putting the bottle back on the table and scurrying away wondering whether he was dreaming or not.

* * *

FAB1 soon reached its destination - the residential area outside Croydon where the incident had happened the night before. The road leading down to the Langstrom's house had been sealed off and all the houses had been evacuated. A massive Police presence was there along with the Fire Brigade and Ambulance people. The road was blocked off so Parker couldn't drive FAB1 right to where they needed to go.

"Sorry, m'lady," Parker said. "But this is h'as far h'as we can go."

"Then I'll have to proceed on foot," Penelope said.

"Yus, m'lady," Parker said. He got out and opened the door for Penelope to step out. She walked down the pavement passed several indignant residents for the Police had now starting to evacuate the rest of the area. As she reached the road that lead down to the house, a Policeman stopped her.

"Sorry, miss, but you need to get out of here," the Policeman said. "This is a restricted area."

"I know that, Constable, but I need to see this for myself," Penelope replied. She then pushed past the barrier.

"Hey!" the Policeman exclaimed. "You can't go in there!" He reached out to try and stop her only to be stopped himself by Parker.

"Keep your 'ands h'off 'er Ladyship, son!" Parker said.

The road to the Langstrom's house was downhill and curved round to the right. As Penelope reached the bottom of the slope she could see the house. Like the rest of the street, large barriers had been placed across in front of it. The house itself looked largely intact despite all the windows having been shattered. The power had been cut to stop any electricity blasts from endangering the Emergency Services. However, what was most concerning was the strange plume of thin green smoke that was rising from the behind the house. Penelope saw that the garden side gate was open and two Paramedics came rushing out with what looked to be a Firefighter on a stretcher. Penelope watched anxiously as they rushed the Firefighter back up the road flanked by two more Policemen. One of which came up to Penelope.

"Sorry, madam, but its dangerous down there," the Policeman said. "We're pulling everyone back."

"What happened to him?" Penelope asked enquiring about the Firefighter.

"Not sure," the female Paramedic replied. "He had his gas mask on, yet it didn't seem to do him much good."

Penelope glanced back at the smoke. There was something very mysterious going on here. "What of the people who lived there?" she asked.

"No idea," the Policeman said. "We've searched the property and there's no sign of either of them. Yet both their cars are still here."

* * *

Penelope regrouped with Parker and headed back to where FAB1 was parked.

"Did you find h'out anything, m'lady?" Parker asked.

"Not really, Parker," Penelope replied. "Only that a Firefighter was somehow knocked unconscious by whatever that smoke is despite wearing a gas mask. What about you?"

"I overheard some bloke saying that some kids were h'outside just before the h'incident, m'lady," said Parker. "H'apparently one of them was knocked down by some kind h'of giant bat."

Penelope frowned. "Come now, Parker," she said. "I know it was Halloween last night, but how could a giant bat be the cause of all this?"

"Search me, m'lady," Parker replied. "Your guess is h'as good h'as mine."

As they reached FAB1 they saw another Fire Engine approaching. They recognised it as one of the Chemical Response Units. Hopefully, they thought, that they would be able to do something about the strange smoke cloud and prevent it from spreading too far.

"That smoke was coming from behind the house," Penelope said as she got into the back of FAB1. "I'd sure like to know where abouts in the garden its coming from."

"Shall I fly us over?" asked Parker.

"No, Parker," said Penelope. "We've already startled enough people today with FAB1's flight-mode. I think I'll get in touch with Daniel and ask whether he could send Karolina over to take a look."

* * *

"Green smoke, did you say, Penelope?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, Daniel," replied Penelope via the radio in her Powder Compact. "But even though the house has lost its windows the smoke did not appear to be originating from it. Whatever it is, it's dangerous. I saw a poor Firefighter being carried away on a stretcher."

"Forgot his gas mask did he?" asked Daniel.

"Well that's just it," said Penelope. "He _was_ wearing it. It didn't help him at all."

"I see…" said Daniel. "Any fatalities at all?"

"None that we know about," Penelope said. "But would it be possible for Karolina to take a flypast of the site just see where the smoke is coming from?"

"Sure," Daniel replied. "I'll get her on it immediately." He pressed a button on his desk. "Thunderbird 7 from base, do you read?"

Karolina's hologram appeared in the room from the eyes of her portrait. "I'm here, Mr Tracy," she said.

"Karolina, could you do a flypast over Croydon, South London, please?" Daniel asked. "There's been an incident and we'd like to know what's going without drawing attention to the authorities."

"Certainly, Mr Tracy," Karolina said. "I'll report back when I reach the location."

"Thanks," said Daniel. He turned back to Penelope. "Guess you're off home?"

"Via London, yes," Penelope said. "I need to make a call to Harrods along the way. Lady Rosamond's new nephew has his birthday in a couple of weeks and I was thinking of getting him a present from there."

"Any ideas on what?" Daniel asked.

"Not yet," Penelope said. "But preferably…something plush." She winked.

Daniel chuckled. "I'll leave you to it," he said. "Once Karolina has reported in, I'll let you know."

"F-A-B," said Penelope and she signed off.

* * *

As Thunderbird 7 approached Croydon, Karolina switched the craft to 'Stealth-Mode'. This silenced the noise from the engines as well as the cloaking device making it invisible. Now she could fly around the scene of the incident without anyone knowing she was there. She then looked down at the house and the back garden. The strange smoke was coming out of a small hole in the middle of the lawn. Karolina switched on Thunderbird 7's underside camera and patched in to Daniel.

"Mr Tracy, I'm over the site now," Karolina said. "Are you receiving the footage?"

"Sure am, Karolina," Daniel replied. "I'm also patching in Lady Penelope as it's her who requested for this."

The footage from Thunderbird 7's camera was now showing on the screen in the back of Parker's seat. "Good heavens!" exclaimed Penelope. "What on earth could've done that?"

Daniel looked carefully at the footage. "There's a lot of debris on the grass," he said.

"Could something have dug into that?" asked Karolina.

"Dug in?" Daniel repeated. "I'd say something dug _out_!"

"It certainly looks that way," agreed Penelope. "But what could create a hole that size?"

"Maybe h'it was that giant bat that bloke was talking about?" suggested Parker with a chuckle.

"Parker, this is serious," Penelope said sharply. She hoped that Daniel and Karolina hadn't heard.

"What was that, Parker?" Daniel asked. "Did you say giant bat?"

"H'I was joking, Mr Tracy, sir," Parker said. "Some kids 'ad been near the 'ouse trick-or-treating when one was knocked down by something large and unseen. This bloke reckons it was a giant bat."

"Righhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht," said Daniel. "I know last night was Halloween but that takes the biscuit."

"Do you want me to go down and take a look inside?" Karolina asked.

"If you're able to," Daniel said. "But make sure you wear your helmet at all times."

"Watch your vitals at all times," Penelope added. "I saw a Firefighter being carried off on a stretcher. He was wearing a mask but the smoke still got to him."

"My helmet's far superior to what they have," said Karolina with confidence. "I be fine."

This was the kind of overconfidence that often got Karolina into difficulties. However, neither Daniel or Penelope chose to say anything.

"Is there anyone else in the garden?" Penelope then asked. "We saw a Chemical Response Team there as we left."

"Ah, yes, I see them," Karolina said. "I may have to wait until they're done."

"Take as long as you need, Karolina," said Daniel. "There's no situation that requires us currently."

* * *

In a modern world where skyscrapers were a city's most recognisable structures, London hadn't got that many. That was rapidly changing though with the construction of not one, but seven identical buildings as part of a massive redevelopment project in Battersea not far from the old Power Station. They were to be appropriately called 'The Seven Sisters' and the first was nearing completion. Due to the massive scale of the project, each of the towers was due to be completed every six months.

Wendy Craig was the driver of one of the two big yellow tower cranes working on Tower 2. It was her job to lift all the materials into position so that her colleagues could put them in the correct places. Working with her on the tower today were Bob Grey and his apprentice Leo Travers. Leo was young and had only been working on the site for the past three weeks. He was still learning the tricks of the trade, but he couldn't have a better coach in Bob who was very experienced.

"Okay, Wendy," Bob said into his radio. "We're ready for the next support beam."

"Okay, Bob," Wendy replied. "Coming up now."

The crane's winch went into reverse and it began to lift a heavy steel beam up from the ground to their position on the 30th Floor.

"Now, Leo, you know what to do?" Bob asked.

"Er, use the drill to screw the bolts into place?" Leo asked. He had a phobia of getting things wrong.

"That's right," said Bob. "You're coming along very well. Ah, here we are."

Leo watched as the beam arrived and the crane swung it round into position. Bob guided it into place before Leo then used his drill to fasten the bolts into place against another beam. Bob then did the same at the opposite end.

"It's done, Wendy," Bob said into his radio. "Just three more to go, and then we'll have lunch."

"You've got it, Bob," said Wendy. She swung the crane arm back out in order to lower the coupling down to the ground. Down below she could see a yellow JCB digger working alongside a blue six-wheeled mobile crane, a small orange cement mixer and a green road-roller working hard. "Ahhh," Wendy said happily. "I love my job. Even on such a murky day like today. What could go wrong?"

* * *

Harold McAdams was a helicopter pilot working out of the City of London Heliport. His job was basically an air taxi ferrying passengers and cargo around the city and its suburbs. However, he wasn't enjoying his day. An earlier cargo delivery had made him late for his next job which was to ferry businessman Arnold Sugar and his personal assistant Maggie Bolton. Arnold was a gruff businessman who stood no nonsense and didn't tolerate things that didn't go the way he wanted. Like today for example - it wasn't Harold's fault that he'd been late, but that didn't stop Arnold from blaming him for it. Now he was hurrying along trying to make up for lost time which wasn't easy due to to the low grey clouds hanging over London.

"Blasted weather!" Harold complained. "I can't see a damn thing! Air Taxi 91 to Control. Requesting permission to drop to lower altitude to avoid the clouds."

"Roger that, AT-91," a female controller replied over the radio. "You are able drop down fifty feet from your current height and continue to City Heliport. However, be careful of the 'Seven Sisters' construction site."

"Roger," said Harold. He then spoke to his passengers. "Hold tight back there. We're descending fifty feet to below the clouds."

"Stop telling me what you're doing, boy, and get on with it!" snapped Arnold rudely. "You've already made me late as it is."

Harold gritted his teeth. "You're welcome you ungrateful…" He broke off for he couldn't be bothered to finish his sentence.

"Do you really have to talk to him like that?" Maggie asked, annoyed at her boss's rudeness. "It really isn't his fault, you know."

"I really don't care, Maggie," said Arnold as he looked through some important papers that were in his briefcase. "I expect my transport be on time and that's that! Now, don't disturb me, I'm busy!"

Maggie said nothing. _I need a new job_ , she thought to herself.

Harold began to descend through the clouds towards his new designated altitude. He was uneasy as he couldn't see the ground. It was dangerous for helicopter pilots to be able to see the ground hence why he'd made the request. He wouldn't be happy until he was safely on the ground with his passengers disembarked.

Suddenly there came a horrendously loud shriek and something slammed into the side of the cockpit. Harold yelped as he briefly caught sight of what it was before it fell away. He hadn't seen it properly, but it was hideous whatever it was. The helicopter lurched and began to drop drastically in height. Maggie gasped loudly and Arnold almost fell out of his seat for he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Arnold bellowed through the intercom. "ARE YOU…"

A small explosion rocked the helicopter. The cockpit instrument panel suddenly burst into flames and then it began to dive towards the ground with its engines screaming loudly. Harold realised that his helicopter was out of control and there was nothing he could do. Smoke filled the cockpit and he had no choice but to get himself into the passenger compartment for safety.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!" Arnold thundered. "GET YOUR ARSE BACK TO THE CONTROLS!"

Harold ignored Arnold as he sat himself down in a seat alongside Maggie and pressed a button which activated three safety-bars over them.

"What's happening?" Maggie asked.

"Something hit us," Harold replied quickly. "The chopper's going down! Hold tight." He then pulled a lever. Arnold and Maggie cried out as the clamps holding the passenger compartment were released and it fell away from the rest of the helicopter. A parachute then deployed to ease their descent towards the ground.

Maggie glanced out of the window and gasped. "Oh, my God!" she cried. "It's heading straight for the construction site!"

Arnold and Harold quickly and stared in alarm. Maggie was right. The helicopter was indeed heading straight for the Seven Sisters site, and there wasn't a thing they could do about it.

The foreman of the building site was about to sound the klaxon to signal the start of lunch break when he saw the helicopter approaching. He could tell straight away it was in trouble because of the smoke pouring out from its cockpit. So instead he began to sound the alarm and shouted an emergency warning over the PA. "EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! HELICOPTER COMING DOWN! EVERYONE CLEAR THE AREA!"

All the builders including Leo, Bob and Wendy all froze in fear when they saw the helicopter.

"IT'S COMING STRAIGHT FOR US!" Leo cried.

"GET OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING AND HANG ON TIGHT!" Bob yelled to Leo and the others.

But Wendy could go nowhere. She watched with wide eyes and cried out in fright as the helicopter began to veer over to the right. "Oh, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Wendy screamed and she covered her eyes.

The helicopter slammed into the support tower of the crane and exploded. Then it fell in a big fireball towards the ground. Several workers had to run for their lives to avoid being crushed by it.

Wendy was thrown around inside the cab. The crane rocked, wobbled and then began to topple over towards Tower 1. As it did so, its long arm swung round and smashed into the side of the tower. Glass and steel went flying and the workers who were busy fitting the building out fled in terror. For Wendy, it seemed like her life was at an end. She kept her hands over her eyes as she screamed. But then there was a sudden jolt and she found she was no longer falling. She then shakily moved one hand away from her right eye. She cried out again in fright. The arm of the crane had wedged itself into the side of Tower 1 and wasn't going to fall again for the moment. But all Wendy could see was the massive drop down to the ground. And it was a long way down.

"HELP!" Wendy cried out. "HELP!"

Bob grabbed his walkie-talkie. "Wendy?! Wendy, can you hear me?!"

Wendy grabbed her own. "Bob!" she cried. "Oh, God - help me!"

"Keep calm, Wendy!" Bob said. "We'll get you out. Just hang in there!"

"O…kay…" said Wendy, her voice was shaking.

Bob switched frequencies so he could talk to the foreman. "Geoff - we're going to need special help to get Wendy out of there. Call International Rescue!"

"You got it, Bob!" the foreman replied. "Keep talking to Wendy and try and keep her calm if you can. I'll make the call now." The foreman then ran inside his hut to make the call.

* * *

Karolina continued to watch over the garden behind the Langstrom's house. She noticed the men that Penelope had mentioned but instead of going down into the hole to investigate, they used a large tarpaulin and covered it over before leaving the garden.

"We'll have to come back to it later," one of the Firefighters said. "We're needed in the Capital. There is a Code Red!"

Karolina frowned. "Code Red?" she said. "That doesn't sound good."

"How's that?" Daniel asked. He was still listening in.

"Mr Tracy, they're saying something about a Code Red in the Capital," said Karolina.

Daniel frowned. But before he could reply, another beeping sound startled him. "It's Kerry," he said. "I think we may be about to find out." He pressed a button. "Go ahead, Kerry."

Kerry's hologram appeared from the portrait. "Daniel, we have a major bad situation in London," she said. "A helicopter has crashed into a crane at the Seven Sisters construction site."

"Any casualties?" Daniel asked.

"Not yet, but the crane has toppled over and jammed itself into one of the other towers," said Kerry. "And the driver is trapped inside."

"Shit!" Daniel said. "I'll get the girls and we'll be on our way. Tell them we're coming, Kerry."

"F-A-B," Kerry said and she signed off.

"Shall I go there, Mr Tracy?" Karolina asked.

"No, we'll be okay, Karolina," Daniel replied. "You check out that hole, then come and join us when you're done."

"Okay," said Karolina. "Good luck."

As Karolina signed off, Daniel pushed the Emergency Alarm button on his desk.

" **Red Alert!** " a female computer voice said loudly as red lights flashed throughout the Tracy Mansion to accompany the alarms. " **Red Alert! Red Alert!** "

The loud alarms very quickly woke the girls up and within forty-five seconds, Laura, Katie, Wizzy, Beth, Adrienne, Leanna, Jodie, Rosie and Joanne had all arrived in the lounge.

"What's happening, Dad?" asked Laura.

"Incident in London," Daniel said. "Laura, launch Thunderbird 1. Ask Kerry for more details when you're airborne."

"I'm on my way," Laura said and she hurried over to the revolving wall panel.

Daniel turned to the others. "Jodie, Joanne, take over here," he said. "The rest of you get down to Thunderbird 2. We are going to need the heavy lifting gear."

The girls headed off. Jodie took Daniel's place at the control desk. Joanne opened what looked like CD player which contained a handprint device. Jodie scanned her right hand with it and in doing so activated the Command-and-Control centre.

Whilst the other girls headed to the express elevators that would take them down to Thunderbird 2's vast hangar, Daniel began his own journey down via the big rocket wall painting. He then was carried down a tunnel via a conveyor harness and robotic arms attached his uniform to his body as he went. The same method for donning uniforms was used in the express elevators.

By now Laura was now in her uniform and had reached Thunderbird 1. She gained access via the extendable walkway and climbed into the cockpit seat. Once inside, the trolley that Thunderbird 1 was mounted on conveyed the sleek silver rocket up its diagonal tunnel towards the launch bay located underneath the swimming pool which had began to open up.

Whilst all this had been happening, Daniel had arrived in the cockpit of Thunderbird 2. After closing the roof hatch, he jumped into his seat and selected Pod 3 on the Pod Selection Panel. The conveyor belt then moved Pods 1 and 2 underneath the main body before stopping with Pod 3 underneath. Daniel pressed another button and the hydraulic legs lowered down onto the pod. Then the floor elevator arrived bringing the others in. Katie sat in the co-pilot seat next to Daniel whilst Wizzy and Leanna sat in the seats behind him and Beth and Adrienne sat in the ones behind Katie. An additional seat rose up from in front of the elevator for Rosie to sit on.

With everyone aboard, Thunderbird 2 began to roll forwards. The cliff face concealing the hangar was lowered and the great green leviathan rolled out onto the runway. The palm trees folded backwards to allow it to pass. Then it reached the launching ramp and came to a stop. The wings folded out and the ramp lifted it into position with the blast shield rising into place behind the engines.

5…4…3…2…1!

The engines on Thunderbird 1 were the first to roar into life. The powerful thrusters pushed it upwards through the now open area where the swimming pool had once been. The Tracy Mansion rattled slightly which woke up Sian and Cassidy who somehow had managed to sleep right through the emergency alarm thanks to Daniel having disabled it at Joanne's request. Then Thunderbird 2's engines fired up and it gracefully lifted off the ramp climbing high into the night sky above Tracy Island. There were two distinctive booms as both ships broke through the sound barriers as they accelerated up to full speed.

"Thunderbirds are go!" said Daniel as the two ships formed up and raced as fast as they could towards London. "Thunderbird 5, any updates?"

* * *

"I've been speaking to the foreman at the site," Kerry said. "It would appear that the helicopter was already in trouble before the crash. He reports that there was smoke coming out from the cockpit."

"Instrument panel failure?" asked Beth.

"I don't think so, Beth," replied Kerry. "Luckily the pilot and his passengers were able to eject in time and the compartment landed safely. According to the Police report we've intercepted, the pilot said something hit the helicopter causing it to go out of control."

"A mid-air collision by the sound of it," said Leanna.

"So there could be another aircraft involved?" asked Adrienne.

"No, we've checked that," Kerry said. "There were no other aircraft in the area at the time of it. The helicopter was in a descent to get below the clouds when it happened."

"Bird strike maybe?" suggested Katie.

"If it was it must've been a big one," remarked Wizzy. "Unless it hit the engines."

"Poor thing if it did," said Laura from Thunderbird 1.

"I doubt we'll know the true cause," Kerry said. "All that matters if that you need to get there as soon as you can and save that worker before the crane or the tower gives way. They won't hold out for long."

"You go ahead and assess the situation, Thunderbird 1," Daniel said. "We'll be with you as soon as we can."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 2," said Laura. "Turbojets engaged!" She pushed the control levers forwards and Thunderbird 1 rocketed away into the distance.

Daniel noticed the look of envy on Katie's face. He knew that although she loved Thunderbird 2 as much as he did, she envied the speed that her older sister's craft was capable of. "She's fast, Katie - deal with it."

"Never," Katie replied simply, which prompted a snigger from her sisters and Leanna whilst Rosie just rolled her eyes. Even Daniel smiled quietly to himself.

"Kerry, any word from Karolina?" Daniel asked.

"Not yet, but I'll let you know if she informs me of anything," Kerry said. "Unless she decides to tell you herself."

"Thanks, Kerry," said Daniel. "Over and out."

"What's Karolina doing?" asked Rosie.

"Currently waiting to get access to a hole that's appeared in a back garden in Croydon," said Daniel. "There was some kind of mysterious explosion that nobody can explain. She's waiting for a chance to go down and investigate."

* * *

"Oh, great, more traffic!" grumbled Penelope as FAB1 became stationary yet again.

"It would h'appear to be gridlocked, m'lady," said Parker. "H'I've never known h'it to be this busy in all the times we've been round here."

The sound of sirens made them look around. Police kept people back as a line of six Fire-Engines and two Ambulances came racing along with their horns and sirens blaring loudly.

"Something's wrong, Parker," said Penelope.

"There must've been h'an h'accident, m'lady," said Parker.

"I'm going to get on the top of the car and have a look," said Penelope. She opened the door and got out before climbing onto the back of FAB1. Drivers and passengers from the other cars were doing the same. It was now that Penelope could see the trouble. She stared in shock at the sight of the tower crane leaning over and embedded in Tower 1. She could also see the black smoke rising from the ground where the remains of the helicopter had crashed. "Oh, Gosh!" Penelope exclaimed. "Parker, there's trouble at the Seven Sisters site. I had better call Daniel and let him know."

"Might he not know already, m'lady?" asked Parker.

"He might do, but I'd better call and make sure," said Penelope.

Just then they heard a strange noise which made not only them, but everyone around them fall silent. It was a shrieking noise. It was also heard at the construction site. Everyone stopped what they were doing and began to look around. The shriek seemed to be coming from somewhere in the sky, but nobody could see what it was.

Wendy was the only one who couldn't hear the strange noise due to being stuck inside the cab of the crane. "Will someone get me out of here?!" she asked angrily. "I'm getting dizzy up here."

"Keep it calm, Wendy," Bob replied over the radio. "International Rescue are on their way."

"Well I wish they'd hurry up," said Wendy. "The longer I'm the less chance…WHAT THE?!"

The shriek came again, and Wendy screamed loudly. All the construction workers and Emergency Service crews looked up at gasped as a giant bat-like creature came swooping out of nowhere, shrieking loudly and charging straight at the crane!


	3. Act II

Karolina jumped down onto the lawn from the tree she'd been hiding in whilst the Fire Department's Chemical Team had been busy covering up the hole. Now that they were all out the way she could proceed. After having a quick look around to make sure the coast was clear, she lifted up the tarpaulin and dived in underneath. She used her grapple gun to lower herself down into the hole. It wasn't far down, only about twenty metres and she then found herself at the bottom. She then left the grappling gun hanging and attached whilst she would look around. It was pitch black in the hole so she activated the Night-Vision in her helmet to enable her to see. She was rather shocked by what she was seeing.

"Thunderbird 5, I'm in the hole," Karolina said into her radio.

"What do you see?" Kerry asked.

"It's some kind of laboratory," said Karolina as she looked around. "Or at least it was. Something very bad has happened here."

"I can see the footage from your camera," said Kerry. "Give everything a thorough look."

So Karolina walked around. The first thing she went to look at was a chair surrounded by what looked to be chemical tanks and tubes connecting them which were all severed. The tanks were also ruptured and had smoke emitting from them. "This is where the smoke is coming from," said Karolina.

"Not affecting you, is it?" asked Kerry.

"Negative," replied Karolina. "No problem at all. Should I seal them up?"

"No," said Kerry. "We don't want the authorities to suspect that someone has been tampering with the scene."

Karolina nodded and turned to go and investigate the large table in the middle of the lab. It was as she was approaching it that something rather shocking caught her eye. "Oh, my God!"

"What is it?" Kerry asked. "Oh…" she then added when she saw it too from the video feed. There was the unmistakable shape of a body in a white lab coat lying on the floor on the right side of the room.

Karolina hurried over and bent down to examine it more closely. "It's a woman," she said. "And I'm afraid to say she's dead."

"Oh dear, poor girl," said Kerry sadly. "The smoke must've affected her badly."

But Karolina wasn't so sure. She used the Evidence Scanner built into her helmet to examine the woman's head more closely. She had the answer. "It wasn't the smoke," she said. "Blunt trauma to the head. She appears to have been hit hard by something."

"Must've been the explosion then," said Kerry.

Karolina looked around for more clues. There was a video camera beside the woman's head. It looked like it had been on at the time. "There's a camera here," she said to Kerry. "Maybe it might be able to show us what happened."

"It could do," said Kerry. "Take a look around some more and see what else you can find. Oh, and also it might be an idea to seal up those tanks. After all, if you're the only one who can move around in there, it'd be best for them too. Anyway, I need to go. The others are nearing the danger zone in London."

"I'll get on it," said Karolina. As Kerry signed off, she noticed a computer in the corner of the room. It too was badly damaged but Karolina decided to see whether the data chips inside might reveal any clues. She decided to use her wrist computer to examine it. And what she saw was rather shocking. "Oh, my…" she said.

* * *

The English Countryside was just a blur in the underside cockpit windows of Thunderbird 1 as it raced at high speed towards London. Through the front camera, Laura could begin to make out the skyline on the horizon.

"Thunderbird 2 from Thunderbird 1, I'm approaching danger zone," said Laura. "What is your ETA?"

"We're about ten minutes behind you, Thunderbird 1," said Daniel. "How does it look?"

"I have a visual on the site now," said Laura. "The crane's still embedded in the side of the tower."

"Can you see the driver?" asked Daniel.

"I'm should be able to in…what the hell?!" Laura exclaimed. "Dad, Kerry, look at this!" She sent the footage from Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbirds 2 and 5. Daniel and Kerry stared in disbelief at the scene.

"What the blazes it that?!" asked Kerry.

Katie, Beth, Wizzy, Adrienne, Leanna and Rosie all looked and stared in disbelief as well.

"Is that a…bat?!" asked Wizzy.

"Whatever it is, it's attacking the crane!" said Adrienne.

"Laura, get it off the crane before it pulls it down!" Daniel ordered.

"On it!" said Laura adjusting the controls enabling Thunderbird 1 to descend towards the site.

Wendy screamed loudly as the strange bat creature continued to rock the crane. It continued to shriek at her and was pounding on the glass of the cab trying to get in. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLP!" Wendy yelled.

"What are we going to do?" Leo asked Bob.

"Er…" For once, Bob had no ideas. Like everyone else, he'd never seen anything like this before.

A loud rumble of engines made everyone in the area look to see Thunderbird 1 approaching. Even the bat-creature stopped attacking the crane and turned to felt a bit uneasy. She had no idea what to do but at least it wasn't rocking the crane anymore. Then an idea came to her. "Come get me, ugly!" she said. The bat-creature shrieked again and pushed itself off the crane to charge at Thunderbird 1. Laura held tightly to her controls after pressing a button on the left console. "I hope this works," she said. The bat-creature soared over and tried to grab onto the top of Thunderbird 1 only to get zapped by the electronic force-field that surrounded the craft. It shrieked even louder and then flew upwards into the clouds and disappeared.

"Laura, what happened?" Daniel asked.

"It's okay, Dad, it's gone," said Laura.

"Good," said Daniel. "How's the crane looking?"

Laura looked at the crane. "Uh-oh," she said. "It appears to have shifted slightly. Looks like the tower bit itself is breaking apart."

"Get down there and speak to the foreman," said Daniel. "We'll be there in five minutes."

"F-A-B, Dad," said Laura.

The workers moved out of the way as Thunderbird 1 came down and landed close to the foreman's office. Laura disembarked and headed over to them.

"Who's in charge?" Laura asked.

"I am," said the man in the black hard hat.

"Sir, we need this whole area cleared," said Laura. "My colleagues will be here in four minutes and they'll need plenty of space to land."

"You got it, Miss," said the foreman. He turned to the others. "LOFTY! JACK! TRAVIS! ADAM! GET THOSE MACHINES MOVED TO THE OTHER END OF THE SITE!"

The workers didn't mess about. Laura watched impressed as they began to move the diggers, smaller cranes and even the little cement mixers all from the area. The Emergency Services who were on the scene to deal with the burning remains of the crashed helicopter had luckily finished and were also able to move their vehicles out of the way. Soon there was more than enough room for Thunderbird 2 to land.

"Thunderbird 1 from Thunderbird 2," Daniel's said over the radio. "Approaching you now."

"Site's clear, Thunderbird 2," replied Laura. "Come straight in."

"F-A-B," said Daniel. "Take us down, Katie."

Kerry then interrupted. "Guys, I've run scans of the two buildings and there are six people trapped on the top floor of Tower 1," she said. "It would seem that the crane's impact with it has caused partial collapses within and disabled the power."

"Is there anyone in the elevators?" asked Daniel.

"Fortunately no," said Kerry. "Those who can are using the stairs to get to the ground floor."

"And Tower 2?" Daniel went on.

"Still being evacuated but no issues that I can see there," Kerry said.

"Good. Thanks, Kerry," said Daniel. He then spoke to the others. "Right then. Beth and Adie, take the Jet-Air Transporters and go rescue those trapped workers. Wizzy and Leanna, go the ground floor and assist in the evacuation down there. I'll take the Jaws of Life and go climbing."

"F-A-B!" the four girls said.

"And me, Dad?" asked Katie.

"Keep Thunderbird 2's engines running," said Daniel. "If I can't get the driver out safely then we may have to life the whole top section of the crane down."

Katie nodded. "Good luck," she said as Daniel left his seat to follow the girls down to the pod.

* * *

The main contents of Pod 3 was the big yellow magnetic claw but there was room around it for small vehicles like the round red Jet-Air Transporters. These used hover technology to fly up to places where others could not get too. The powerful air blasters mounted on the backs were designed to catch falling people before bringing them down safely to the ground. Also housed in here were a set of robotic arms that Daniel could use to lift heavy objects and move them around. As he got himself into the harness that came with them, Adrienne and Beth powered up the two Jet-Air Transporters whilst Wizzy and Leanna stood on opposite sides of the pod door ready to disembark. All five had already put on their helmets like Laura had done before she'd got out of Thunderbird 1.

Katie brought Thunderbird 2 down and landed in the large open area that had just been cleared. A lot of dust was kicked up due to the thrust from the VTOL jets as it came down. Once on the ground the hydraulic legs lifted the main body clear of Pod 3. The door opened and Leanna, Wizzy and Daniel hurried out followed by Beth and Adrienne with the Jet-Air Transporters.

"What's the plan?" Laura asked when they joined her.

"There's still people trapped in Tower 1," Daniel said. "Beth, Adie and the Jet-Air Transporters are en-route. Leanna and Wizzy will help with the rest of the evacuation down here."

"And where you going?" asked Laura.

"Climbing," said Daniel. "Be ready. I may need your help."

Laura nodded and watched as Daniel hurried over towards the crane. Rosie then came to stand beside her. "He not got a job for you?" Laura asked.

"I'd rather not have to treat anyone," Rosie replied.

Daniel reached the bottom of the crane and looked up. He could see the damaged section where it had been hit by the helicopter. "Okay, here goes," he said. He then began to use the powerful jaws to pull himself up. It was not going to be a quick rescue on his part, but he hoped he'd make it in time.

Four men and two women were trapped on the very top floor of Tower 1. They'd been waving in the hope someone would see them and they were very relieved when the two Jet-Air Transporters arrived.

"There they are, Beth," Adrienne said.

"Looks like they're stuck in that room," Beth replied.

Adrienne then got onto her radio. "Jodie, you read?"

"I'm here, Adie," Jodie answered from Tracy Island.

"We have eyes on the trapped people in Tower 1," Adrienne said. "But they are stuck in the office or whatever it is and there is no way they can reach the roof."

"Pull out the window is my best suggestion," Jodie said. "Get a suction microphone on the glass and speak to them so that they know what's happening."

"Got it!" said Beth. She carefully moved her Jet-Air Transporter closer to the window and placed the suction microphone onto it. "This is International Rescue," she said. "You guys okay in there?"

"We're fine," the ginger-bearded worker said. "But something's blocked the door and we can't get out of here."

"We'll get you down," Beth said. "But first we're going to have to pull out the window so you'll need to stand back."

"What?!" gasped the black-haired female worker with glasses. "But you can't do that! We only just finished putting it in!"

"Then replace it," said Beth firmly. "Now stand back!"

The workers quickly moved back. The woman had to be dragged back. Beth removed the suction cup and moved the Jet-Air Transporter away before firing a larger suction cup with stronger cable to one side of the window. Adrienne then did the same. Both then looked down to make sure there was nobody moving around on the ground below.

"Clear!" said Beth.

"Clear!" said Adrienne.

They put the Jet-Air Transporters into reverse and began to pull hard on the window. They weren't sure whether the whole section would come out intact or whether it would shatter. They soon found out when with a CRACK the whole section came free and began dangling beneath them. Surprisingly though it did not fall to the ground and remained attached.

"No time to drop it," Adrienne said. "Let's get them out."

Turning the Jet-Air Transporters around, the two sisters moved back up against the building. Luckily for them it wasn't too windy and the workers could simply climb onto the vehicles rather than have to jump on them.

"ARE YOU SURE THIS THING'S SAFE?!" the brown-haired male worker shouted over the noise of the wind.

"Yes, sir, we've done this many times. Don't worry yourself," Beth replied. She didn't need to shout for she was speaking to him through the speaker in her helmet.

The workers were all at bit nervous about stepping out onto the backs of the Jet-Air Transporters due to the sheer drop below them. However, one by one they were able to do it. The ginger-haired one with the beard, the black-haired woman with glasses and the black-haired man all got onto Beth's whilst the other three scrambled as quickly as they could onto Adrienne's.

"Everyone set?" Adrienne asked.

"Yeah…" they all replied nervously.

"Here we go," said Beth. "Hang on tight."

The Jet-Air Transporters began to move away from Tower 1 with the workers on the back and the large section of glass still hanging underneath. They needed to go round behind Tower 2 in order to keep clear of the crane. The Jet-Air Transporters wouldn't have affected it but they couldn't risk going near it in case it suddenly gave way and fell on top of them.

Daniel was making steady progress up the crane. He couldn't go fast and had to be sure he had a firm grip with each claw before releasing the other to reach up further. He soon reached the tricky section where the metal had been damaged after the helicopter had crashed into it. Up until this point Daniel had been able to go upwards vertically, but not he would have to climb around the twisted metal and onto the section that was at a thirty degree angle.

"Daniel how it's going?" Kerry asked over the radio.

"Slow, but I'm getting there," Daniel replied. "I'm over halfway and trying to climb over the damaged section." He'd barely finished speaking when the crane suddenly lurched and moved slightly. "WOOAH!" he exclaimed loudly as he lost his footing and almost fell off. Luckily the jaws held firm and he remained attached to the crane.

"DAD!" Wizzy cried out having seen him.

Laura hurried forwards.

"It's okay, I'm fine!" Daniel assured them all as he pulled himself back up. "Although an item of…"

"Daniel, we don't wish to know that," Kerry interrupted.

"Joke-breaker!" Daniel grumbled as he began to climb again.

The Jet-Air Transporters had now landed safely at the far end of the site where the rest of the construction team had been gathered.

"Did you get them all?" Bob asked.

"Yes, sir," replied Adrienne as the workers disembarked. "All six are accounted for."

"Let's go check on the others," Beth said as she began to head back towards Thunderbird 2. Adrienne waited for the last worker to be helped down before she too followed.

After dropping the two Transporters next to Thunderbird 1, Beth and Adrienne hurried over to where Rosie and Laura were standing watching Daniel.

"You get them all?" Laura asked.

"Yes, Laura," replied Beth. "No injuries."

"We didn't even need to use the jets to catch them," added Adrienne.

"Good," said Laura.

Then Leanna and Wizzy came hurrying over.

"That's everyone out," Leanna said.

"Building's empty," added Wizzy.

"Great," said Laura. She then looked up. "Just the crane driver to save now."

Everyone looked up at the crane. They could just make out Daniel's shape as he continued to climb.

Just then, Laura's radio bleeped. She expected it to be Kerry, but was surprised by who it actually was.

"Laura, you there?"

"Lady Penelope? Bad timing, we're kind of busy."

"At the Construction Site, I know," said Penelope. "I saw you arrive."

The girls looked at each other. "Where abouts are you?" asked Laura.

"In the gridlock surrounding the area," Penelope replied. "We can see everything that's going on. And is that your Dad on the crane?"

Before Laura could reply, the crane suddenly shifted yet again making everyone jumpy.

"Goddamnit!" Daniel cursed. "Keep still you stupid thing!"

"Yes, it is," Laura said to Penelope. "Please excuse me, Lady P, but I think he may need some help."

Daniel had now reached the top of the crane and he pulled himself round to the cab where Wendy was trapped. "International Rescue here."

"Oh, thank heavens!" Wendy exclaimed. "Wait, did you climb up here?"

"Yes," Daniel replied. "Didn't want to risk the downdraft from our ships to cause trouble. Now don't worry, er, what's your name?"

"Wendy."

"Wendy, I'm going to get you out of here," said Daniel. He then grabbed onto the door of the cab and pulled it clean off before throwing it aside.

Wendy up until now had been desperate to get out the cab, but as she tried to step out, she suddenly noticed the angle the crane was at and cried out in alarm.

"What's wrong, Wendy?" Daniel asked. "I need to get you down."

"I…I…I can't!" Wendy cried, trembling like a leaf. "And where is that monster?"

"Monster?" Daniel asked. Then he remembered. "Oh, that bat thing? Gone luckily. Now…"

The crane suddenly shifted yet again.

"My God, that's not going to last much longer," Rosie remarked.

"Dad, the angle's gotten steeper," Laura said. "I think it might be your weight that's shifting it."

"I have not put on weight!" Daniel spluttered indignantly.

Laura rolled her eyes. "You combined with your gear I mean!" she said crossly.

"Oh…" Daniel realised. "Sorry. Er, yes, perhaps so." He paused as he collected his thoughts. "Ok then. Katie, we're going to need a lift."

"On my way, Dad," said Katie. She closed the door of Pod 3 and lowered the main body back down. Then she fired the VTOL engines and Thunderbird 2 lifted up off the ground. Once it was at the correct height it began to slowly move towards the crane.

"What's the plan then?" Kerry asked Daniel over the radio.

But it was Jodie who answered. She'd been monitoring the whole thing from Tracy Island. "The angle that the crane is at is too dangerous for Mr Tracy to climb down alone let alone carry the driver," she said. "So Thunderbird 2 will have to lift it clear of the building and then lower it to the ground."

Laura looked at the support tower. "Would it be an idea if I were to use my laser to cut the top arm of the crane free from the tower?" she said. "That way there might not be any complications when Katie starts to move it."

"Good thinking, Laura," said Jodie. "That would make things easier. Go to it."

"Stay here," Laura told her sisters, Leanna and Rosie as she hurried forwards. Unlike Daniel, who had climbed up the tower, simply used her Jetpack to rise up to the crane. "You know, Dad, maybe Jodie should fit your Jaws of Life with a Jetpack?" she said as she approached.

"Didn't you try that, Jodie?" Daniel asked.

"Yes," Jodie replied hesitantly. "It didn't go well from what I remember."

Joanne frowned. "What happened?" she asked.

"I had to rebuilt MAX after he tried it out," Jodie said.

Thunderbird 2 was now above the crane. "In position," Katie said. "Lowering Magnetic Grabs."

Looking up, Daniel and Laura saw the hatch in the underside of Pod 3 open and the big yellow grabs began to lower towards them. They didn't need to guide it down for her as she could use a hologram projector which showed the position of the crane in relation to where the grabs were.

"There!" Katie said when the grabs had locked themselves around the arm of the crane. "Got it."

"Laura, you're up," said Daniel.

Laura grabbed onto the arm of the crane just below the cab area. After securing herself with a line, she took out her laser gun and began to use it to cut through the support tower. "Katie, I'm cutting my way through now," she said. "Be ready for a sudden swing. Same with you and the driver, Dad."

"F-A-B, sis," said Katie. "I'm ready."

"Careful, Laura," warned Daniel. He then turned to Wendy. "You might want to strap yourself in," he said.

Wendy obeyed and secured herself to the chair with the seatbelts.

Due to the gridlock, a huge crowd had gathered at a distance on both side of the Thames. There were even people in nearby tower blocks watching what was going on.

With every cut that Laura made, the crane wobbled some more. Laura to check to make sure there was nobody below before she finished off. With a creaking groaning SNAP, the tower broke free. From the top half to down where the helicopter had hit broke away completely and hit the ground with a loud clatter. The arm of the crane, no longer supported began to swing around wildly as it broke free from Tower 1. Daniel, Laura and Wendy held on for dear life.

"Easy guys, I've got you," Katie said as she began to lower them to the ground.

The crowds around the outside of the site, in the overlooking tower blocks and the other builders on the ground all began to clap and cheer as Thunderbird 2 lowered the crane safely down onto the ground. With the danger of falling debris now over, the other builders were able to come up and greet and very relieved Wendy who ran straight into Bob's arms once the crane was firmly on the ground.

"Oh, Bob!" Wendy cried hugging him tightly and bursting into tears. "I was so scared! I thought I'd never see you again!"

"I was scared too, Wendy," Bob replied. He and Wendy then turned to Daniel. "Thank you," they both said together.

"You're welcome," Daniel replied. "Bit of a slow start but we got there."

"Where's Leo, Bob?" Wendy asked. "I need to hug him too."

Bob looked around and scratched his head. "Er…" he said. "That's odd. I could've sworn he was here a minute ago."

"What's this?" Daniel asked. "You lost someone?"

"My apprentice," Bob replied. "He's just under five foot, dark skinned and has a white hardhat."

Daniel turned to the girls. "You seen anyone matching that description?" he asked.

"Not in the last ten minutes, no," said Laura.

Katie had now landed Thunderbird 2 and came to join them. "What's this?" she asked Beth.

"One of the builders is unaccounted for," Beth replied.

"Okay, we'll find him," said Daniel. "Everyone split up and search the site. He has to be…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone jumped and looked around.

"That's Leo!" Wendy gasped. "But what's happened?!"

The scream had come from between Towers 1 and 2 near to where the bottom section of the crane had been. Then Leo came sprinting out from between the two yelling at the top of his voice and waving his arms in the air. His eyes were wide with fright. "IT'S GONNA EAT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he wailed.

Suddenly there came a loud shrieking noise and then the strange bat-creature came swooping out from behind Tower 1. It spotted Leo and then began to dive down towards him.

"OH, MY GOD!" exclaimed Leanna, Rosie, Beth and Wizzy all at the same time whilst Katie, Laura and Daniel were too stunned for words.

"LEO, HURRY!" Bob shouted.

Leo tried to run as fast as he could only to trip over on a piece of pipe and fell flat on his face.

"LEO!" screamed Wendy in horror.

Daniel charged forwards towards Leo and the bat-creature. He used his left Jaw to quickly pull him to his feet. "RUN, KID, MOVE!" he ordered.

Leo didn't need telling twice and ran towards the others.

"EVERYONE GET BACK!" The foreman shouted.

Everyone began to move, but Daniel stayed right where he was. He was facing down the bat-creature that was now heading straight for him. The girls couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"DAD, MOVE!" shouted Adrienne. "IT'S GONNA GET YOU!"

Daniel gritted his teeth. "No," he said firmly and calmly. "I'm getting _it_!"

The bat-creature was less than ten metres and approaching fast. Then right at the last second, Daniel jumped to the side and grabbed its right leg. It shrieked again as he then thrust it back and slammed it hard into the ground. Then he quickly used both jaws to grab hold of the wings pinning it down.

"Dad, have you gone nuts?!" Laura cried hurrying over as the others tried to stop her.

"Quick, someone get a blood sample!" Daniel ordered.

The girls looked at each other with confused expressions. Then Beth pushed past and hurried forwards taking out the Blood-Extractor device from her utility sash.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" groaned Katie and hurried after Beth.

As Daniel struggled to hold the creature down, he could could see its face a lot more closely. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before. It was grotesque. In fact, it looked somewhat human. "You know what…" he said to it. "You are one, ugly…"

"Hold it down, Dad!" Beth said as she got down on her knees and pressed the Blood-Extractor hard against the creature's chest. It began to extract a sample of its blood into a small tube attached to the device.

Laura, Wizzy, Adrienne, Katie and Leanna were all thinking to try and stop this process, but they were even more surprised when Rosie got in their way.

"Stay back!" Rosie ordered. "Let them finish! I know what your father's thinking."

Beth then moved back. "Got it!" she said holding up the extractor.

She was just in time. The creature finally gained enough strength to wiggle itself free and push Daniel back. It jumped to its feet and shrieked loudly at them. It was now that the other girls could see it properly and found themselves unable to do or say anything. It definitely had a humanesque shape with hair on its head and body. Its wings appeared to also be arms at the same time and its eyes were blank. It was certainly one of the most disturbing things anyone had ever seen. It then flapped its wings and lifted off before disappearing into the clouds.

"What the hell is that thing?" Leanna asked.

Daniel panted as he got his breath back. He watched as Beth handed the blood sample to Rosie.

"Let's find out," Rosie said.


	4. Act III

Rosie led the others into Pod 3 and to the small laboratory near the back. All the pods had these labs, although it was rare that any saw use. Once inside, Rosie put the blood sample into a special computer to analyse it.

"So what's the idea here?" asked Leanna. "Are you trying to find out what species that is?"

"That's no bat, Leanna," Beth replied.

"Agreed," said Daniel.

"Oh, my…" Rosie exclaimed. "It is exactly what I thought, but not _who_ I thought."

The girls except for Beth exchanged puzzled looks. "How's that?" asked Wizzy.

"Pardon our intrusion…"

The Tracy's, Leanna and Rosie jumped and looked round to see Lady Penelope and Parker had entered the pod.

"Lady Penelope?" said Katie in surprise. "How did you get in here?"

"She used 'er charm on those builders," said Parker.

"Yes, thank you, Parker," said Penelope after rolling her eyes. "We saw you tackling that bat creature. It has to be the same one that was seen around Croydon last night."

"You're just in time, Penny," said Daniel. "We're about to find out who it is."

"Beg pardon, sir," said Parker, "but did you just say _who_?"

"Yes, Parker," said Daniel. "Rosie, you were saying?"

"The blood is heavily mutated," said Rosie. "But I have a partial match. A Doctor Kirk Langstrom. He and I go way back."

"Good heavens!" exclaimed Penelope. "We were near his house this morning. It was his house where the incident took place last night."

"You mean the same one where Karolina has been?" asked Daniel.

Penelope nodded.

"Speak my name and I appear."

Everyone turned to see Karolina had now entered the pod.

"I suppose you caught the end of that, did you?" Daniel said.

Karolina nodded. "And I bring you two things of interest," she said. "A digital copy of the research of Dr Langstrom's from his computer as well as the contents from a video camera I found next to his wife's body."

Everyone gulped.

"His wife's dead?" asked Laura.

Karolina nodded grimly. "Tragically so, Laura," she said. "I managed to seal the chemical tanks on Kerry's request before I came here. So you encounter him too?"

"Dad tackled him and I got the blood sample," said Beth.

Adrienne then spoke up. "Okay, everyone just stop," she said. "Could someone please explain how Dr Langstrom has somehow turned into a hideous monster?"

Karolina handed a small USB device to Rosie. "That's from the computer," she said. "That should be able to tell us."

Rosie put the device into the lab's own computer. Sure enough it began to show them all a number of DNA chains showing different blood types. There were three in total. One was yellow and represented that of a human, that being Langstrom himself. The blue DNA chain was from a vampire bat. And the dark green spiked chain was the same as the one recorded from the blood sample taken from the bat-creature.

"Mixing his DNA with a vampire bat?" said Rosie. "That was never going to end well!"

"But why would he do that?" asked Laura. "I know he's a scientist, but this is taking it too far."

"Crazy scientist I expect," said Wizzy.

"He certainly is not, Wizzy!" said Rosie sharply. "I know him well. We both studied together whilst at Cambridge. He was brilliant. So was Francine Fisher. They shared an interest in biochemistry and were married within six months of first meeting."

"He must have done this for a reason," said Penelope.

Rosie looked through the computer notes. "There some details here about the human ear and hearing system," she said. "I knew he was going deaf but…" She broke off suddenly as a thought suddenly struck her. "Hang on a second. No, he can't have been!"

"What?" asked Daniel. He came over to see the notes for himself. "What is it, Rosie?"

"I think the video camera footage will answer that for you," said Karolina. "She added the second of the two USB sticks into the computer. It showed a number of files. Karolina pressed on the penultimate file and the video began to play. It showed a man with little grey hair and beard in a white lab coat. He looked nervous. Behind him was a tall brown-haired woman, also in a white lab coat. She didn't look nervous in the slightest. They of course were Kirk and Francine.

" _I'm so proud of you, honey,_ " Francine said kissing her husband lovingly on the top of the head. " _Go on. Tell them what you've done._ "

Kirk cleared his throat. " _Errr… Hello, world,_ " he said awkwardly. " _No, that's terrible._ "

" _Go on,_ " urged Francine rubbing his shoulders. " _Just be yourself._ "

" _Okay,_ " said Kirk clearing his throat again. " _Full genetic re-splicing was a success. The recombinant molecules-_ "

" _Honey, you're doing it again,_ " Francine interrupted. " _How about in English?_ "

"My feelings exactly," Wizzy muttered to Adrienne.

"Shh!" hissed Katie.

" _Yes, of course, sorry,_ " Kirk continued on the video. " _So, what we have done here, is merge the DNA of Desmodus Rotundas, sorry, the vampire bat, into the human chain. This breakthrough could…will prevent and cure deafness in all humanity._ " He then turned to Francine. " _How was that?_ "

" _Perfect, sweetie,_ " Francine replied. And then the clip ended.

"So that's what he was doing," Parker said.

"He was trying to find a cure for deafness," Rosie said. "Not just for himself but for anyone who might have it!"

"And he used himself as the test subject," Daniel finished.

"And here it is," said Karolina. She activated the last video file from the camera's memory. It showed Kirk getting into the special chair that was in his lab.

" _Are you getting this, honey?_ " Kirk asked.

" _I think so,_ " Francine replied, briefly turning the camera to face herself. " _Is the red light on?_ "

A large see-through door closed off the section where Kirk was so that the experiment could begin. As he was attached to the chair, he activated the process which sent the chemicals from the tanks into his body via the tubes. Almost immediately he began to shudder, shake and cry out in pain.

" _Kirk?_ " Francine asked anxiously. " _Honey, are you okay?_ " She then turned the camera away and placed it down on the table in the middle of the lab meaning they could no longer see what was going on. " _Oh, my God!_ " Francine cried. " _Kirk?!_ "

This was followed by the sounds of smashing glass and the terrifying shrieking sound that the creature had been making. Then Francine screamed and something hit the table causing the camera to fall off and land on the floor. It had barely landed when there was a loud WHACK heard and head appeared right in front of it. Her eyes remained open and staring, unblinking. There then came the sound of an explosion and smoke filled the room before the video then ended suddenly.

There was silence in the lab as everyone tried to take in what they'd just witnessed. Now they knew what had happened.

Daniel broke the silence by speaking to Karolina. "I presume Mrs Langstrom was just the way she was in that video?" he asked.

Karolina nodded. "Yes, Mr Tracy," she said. "Although I closed the lids of her eyes for her."

"Well done," said Daniel patting her shoulder.

"How did she die?" asked Penelope.

"Blunt trauma to the head," said Karolina. "Langstrom had no idea what he was doing."

"Do you think he might have been the cause of the helicopter crash?" asked Beth.

Daniel nodded. "Kerry said from reports that the pilot said something hit the side of the helicopter and caused it to go out of control. It must have been him."

"So…what now?" asked Laura. "He's still out there somewhere. We've got to do something."

"Like what exactly?" asked Leanna.

"Well we can't just leave him out there, can we?" said Laura. "He's put lives in mortal danger and will keep doing so until he's stopped."

Rosie was busy going through all the research and looking closely at the DNA chains. "Laura's right," she said. "We have to try and help him. And I think I know how to do it. If I search through the files, I may be able to create an antidote to his condition."

"And how do you plan to do that?" asked Daniel.

"I need to isolate the Man-Bat signature and remove it from Kirk's DNA," said Rosie.

"Man-Bat?" repeated Adrienne. "Seriously?"

"Well he's hardly Batman, is he, Adie?" said Beth.

"Girls, hush," said Penelope. "Let Rosie concentrate."

Everyone fell silent so that Rosie could do her work. Using a special program in the computer system, she selected both Langstrom's original DNA chain and the Man-Bat DNA chain before twisting them round to keep the white sections in line. If one didn't match the other, the process would begin to fail and would need to recover. The progress was very delicate and needed Rosie to concentrate almost harder than any of them could remember. Both Karolina and Daniel, who were standing closest to Rosie thought they may have seen a trickle of sweat on her forehead. However it didn't last long and soon the process was completed. Rosie took the tube that had contained the blood sample out of the machine. It now contained a purple liquid that was the antidote.

"That's it," said Rosie when she'd finished. "I've created a clean DNA sample. Now, all we need to do is make him take his medicine."

"And just how do you suggest we do that?" asked Wizzy. "For starters we have no idea where he is."

"And even if we do find him, I hardly think he's going to be co-operative," added Adrienne.

Daniel pressed the IR symbol on his sash. "Thunderbird 5 and base. Are you there?"

"Receiving you, bro," Kerry's voice answered.

"Go ahead, Mr Tracy," Jodie's voice then said.

"Rosie's been able to make an antidote for Dr Langstrom's new form," Daniel explained. "But in order to give it to him we need to first of all find him and then make him take it. Any suggestions?"

"I've been monitoring all Police traffic in London ever since the first report of the helicopter crash was picked up," Kerry said. "Since you got that DNA sample there have been three reported sightings of him. The last was in the area of the Isle of Dogs. However that doesn't necessarily mean that's where he is now."

Jodie then spoke up. "I might have an idea," she said. "If I can calibrate the scanners of the ships from here then you can split up and start scanning the city. The data can be sent to Thunderbird 5 and then as soon as we get a match on his unique DNA form we can guide you to his location."

"That could work," said Laura. "But London's a big place. Where do you suggest we start."

"I've devised a search area for you," Jodie said, showing them a hologram map of London via Daniel's wrist controller. "Four areas. Each of you take your craft and go scan those areas."

"Four?" asked Leanna. "There's only Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 7 here!"

Parker coughed loudly. "You forgetting something, miss?" he asked.

Leanna frowned. "Er, am I?" she asked.

"Of course!" Katie realised. "FAB1 can search the other area!"

"Exactly," said Penelope. "FAB1 can fly too, remember?"

It all made sense now.

"That's settled then," said Kerry. "Thunderbird 1 can scan the Northern area of the city. Thunderbird 2 can do the Southern area. Thunderbird 7 can cover the Western side and FAB1 can take the Eastern side. Good hunting to you all."

"F-A-B!" everyone said together.

* * *

The search for the Man-Bat as it was now dubbed was soon well underway. Thunderbird 1 flew over the North area of London around Camden area, using its scanners to map the area below. Jodie had calibrated it to register every life-form from human and animal and relayed to Thunderbird 5. Thunderbird 2 was doing the same in the South around Wimbledon and Croydon, Thunderbird 7 in the West around Hammersmith and Kew and FAB1 in flight-mode in the East around the Isle of Dogs and Greenwich. All had started in near the centre of the city and were gradually moving outwards. They kept a good height above the ground so as not to attract too much attention.

"Scans are coming clean," Kerry told them all. "Not picking up any giant bats so far though."

"This is all assuming he's still in the city," said Leanna.

Wizzy looked at her watch. "It's only 4 o'clock," she said. "It's starting to get dark. Guess he might be easier to find. After all, bats do come out at night."

"Which doesn't explain why he was out during the daytime," added Adrienne.

"He's not in control of his actions," said Rosie. "His human persona is adjusted to daytime and the bat persona prefers the night."

"We'll find him, girls," Daniel said. "We have to."

As Kerry continued to observe the scans coming in, EOS interrupted her. " _Kerry, I'm hearing another report on the Metropolitan Police Channel,_ " she said. " _There's has been another sighting of Dr Langstrom._ "

"Whereabouts, EOS?" Kerry asked.

" _Greenwich area,_ " EOS said. " _Near the_ Cutty Sark."

"Thanks," Kerry said as she opened the radio link to the others. "Guys, EOS has intercepted another Police report. He's been sighted in Greenwich near the _Cutty Sark_."

"Copy that, Kerry," said Penelope. "We'll go take a look."

"Be careful, Lady Penelope," warned Laura. "If he's moving around he could pop out from nowhere."

"Understood, Laura," said Penelope. "Parker, take us over Greenwich."

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker. He turned the steering wheel and FAB1 moved round to the right.

As they approached Greenwich, FAB1 lowered in altitude towards the famous Tea-Clipper vessel. The radar scanner started mapping out the area and all the people who were there. Everyone appeared to be calm so there was no indication that the Man-Bat was there.

"Sorry, Miss Tracy," Parker said. "But 'e doesn't h'appear to be 'ere."

"That last report was only two minutes ago, Parker," Kerry replied. "He can't be very far away."

THUD!

FAB1 shuddered and almost dropped out of the sky. Parker and Penelope both cried out in alarm to see that the Man-Bat had appeared out of nowhere and had landed on FAB1's front. His hideous face was looking in at them and shrieking loudly.

"Er, everyone, we've found him!" Penelope exclaimed.

"GET H'OFF, YOU DESPICABLE RODENT!" Parker shouted. He began rolling FAB1 to each side in an attempt to shake it off. But FAB1's body hadn't been electrified so the Man-Bat stayed put, still shrieking.

On the ground, people heard the shrieking and looked up. There were several gasps and shouts as they saw FAB1 and the Man-Bat weavering about in the air.

"Hold on, Penny, we're coming!" Daniel said over Penelope's compact radio.

"'E'S NOT SHIFTING, M'LADY!" Parker cried.

At that moment, Thunderbird 1 arrived on the scene. "Parker, try electrifying the body," Laura said. "It worked for me."

"H'electrify?" Parker clapped his forehead. "Why didn't I think h'of that?" He pressed a button on the dashboard which sent an electric current through FAB1's body. The Man-Bat shrieked even louder than before as the electricity forced it to take flight once more. It swooped around and began to come in for another attack only to be suddenly blinded by a light shining from Thunderbird 7 which was now arriving.

"Stay off them, ugly!" Karolina ordered.

Penelope had noticed the reaction of the Man-Bat to the bright light and she had an idea. "Parker, turn our headlights onto him. Full beam!"

Parker complied and turned the lights of FAB1 up to full. The Man-Bat seemed to scream. It threw its winged hands over its face to shield its eyes. This caused it to cartwheel and almost fall out of the sky. It began to fly away in the direction of the Isle of Dogs.

"He's trying to get away from us," said Laura. An idea was starting to come to her. "I wonder if can change that?" She quickly moved Thunderbird 1 into a position where she could see the Man-Bat's face before turning one of Thunderbird 1's spotlights on and aiming it at its face. The Man-Bat shrieked again and turned away back towards Greenwich. "Dad, I have an idea," Laura said. "If we can all use our lights to make him go where we want, we can get him somewhere out of the way of innocent people so we can try and get him to take the cure."

"Good thinking, Laura," Daniel answered. "And I think I know the very place, too. Kerry, how busy is Greenwich Park right now?"

"Not very busy at all," Kerry replied looking at the scans of the area. "The open grass area is empty."

"Great!" said Daniel. "Laura, Karolina, Parker, try and get him to go over to the park. We'll be waiting for him."

"F-A-B!" said Karolina and Laura together.

"Right you h'are, Mr Tracy sir," said Parker.

As Thunderbird 2 arrived over Greenwich Park and moved into position, the Man-Bat was just by the _Cutty Sark_ and on course towards them.

"Keep her steady, Katie," Daniel said as he got up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" asked Wizzy.

"To give the doctor his medicine of course," said Daniel. He stopped by Rosie's seat so she could pass him the Extractor Device which was now fitted with the tube of antidote.

"Shouldn't Rosie be doing that?" asked Adrienne.

"I don't think Rosie would be too keen on the method I plan to use," Daniel said as he went over to the elevator floor. He pressed a button which opened the cockpit roof hatch and then the elevator lifted him up to the top.

From her position in the back of FAB1, Penelope could see Daniel now on the top of Thunderbird 2. "What on earth is he doing?" she asked.

"I hate to think," remarked Karolina.

Laura had been wondering the same as all the others. "Dad, what exactly are you up to?" she asked.

"You'll see in a second," Daniel answered. He watched as the Man-Bat approached him. "Katie, turn on the lights!"

Katie complied and shone Thunderbird 2's spotlight at the Man-Bat. It shrieked and turned away from them. Then to the alarm of everyone, Daniel began to run forwards along the top of Thunderbird 2.

"Oh, my God!" gasped Karolina.

In the cockpit, the girls heard the sound of running footsteps.

"DAD, NO!" the five sisters all cried together.

"HI-HO SILVER…AWAY!" Daniel yelled as he threw himself off Thunderbird 2 and landed right on the back of the startled Man-Bat. It shrieked again and tried to climb, but Daniel wrapped his arms around its wings causing it to lose lift. They both dropped down and landed heavily on the grass below. Normally this would've severely injured someone, but Daniel was protected by his suit and the Man-Bat's thickened skin had softened the impact.

Daniel quickly jumped around and pushed down on the Man-Bat to prevent it from getting up again. This wasn't as easy without the Jaws of Life but he was determined not to fail. He grabbed the Extractor with his right hand and pressed it against the Man-Bat's skin. He pushed the button and the antidote was injected into it. The Man-Bat continued to shriek whilst the process was carried out, but once the last drop of antidote had gone in, the shrieking got quieter and then stopped. The winged-arms flopped back at the Man-Bat became still.

Daniel puffed and stood up. "It worked," he said. "He's down."

The girls and Parker all breathed sighs of relief.

* * *

Soon FAB1 and the three Thunderbirds had landed on the grass. Everyone disembarked and came over to join Daniel. By they approached they heard a strange noise originating from the Man-Bat. Then when it stopped, they all looked down to see that it was changing. All the bat-like features vanished leaving nothing but a man lying on the ground.

"Oh, my, he is naked!" exclaimed Leanna darting behind Beth and Adrienne.

Parker quickly put his left hand over Penelope's eyes but she pulled it away. "There's no need for that, thank you, Parker," she said.

Rosie bent down to examine Langstrom. "Someone go get a blanket before he freezes," she instructed. She then turned to Daniel. "We need to get him to a hospital as soon as possible."

"I'll call St Thomas's," said Penelope and turned away to make the call.

"How are we going to get him there?" asked Katie.

"I could take him," said Laura. "I've the quickest craft."

Daniel nodded. "Agreed," he said. "Rosie and I will come with you."

"What about us?" asked Beth.

"There's no room for you to land at the hospital," said Daniel. "Might be best if you return to base just in case we get another emergency call."

Katie nodded. "Agreed," she said. She turned to the others. "Come on, let's go."

Daniel then turned to Karolina. "You best go with them, too, Karolina," he said. "You've have a long day and Thunderbird 7 will need servicing."

Karolina nodded. "Certainly, Mr Tracy," she said and headed back to Thunderbird 7.

After Wizzy had passed a blanket to Rosie she joined her sisters and Leanna back in Thunderbird 2. Then Thunderbirds 2 and 7 took off again before heading back towards Tracy Island.

Penelope rejoined them. "Call made," she said. "They'll be ready for you when you arrive."

"Thanks, Penny," said Daniel. "You going to come with us or head home?"

Penelope looked at her watch. "We'll head home I think," she said. "There's not much else we can do to help."

Daniel nodded. "Very well," he said. He then bent down and picked Dr Langstrom up before carrying him over to Thunderbird 1.

* * *

Thunderbird 1 landed on the rooftop helipad of St Thomas's Hospital overlooking the Houses of Parliament. A group of doctors and nurses were waiting to receive the patient.

"International Rescue - I am Dr Gregory Peck," the man in charge introduced himself. "I hear you have an unusual patient for us."

"We do, Doctor," said Rosie as Daniel carried Langstrom out of Thunderbird 1. "This is Dr Kirk-"

"Langstrom?!" exclaimed Dr Peck hurrying over for a better. "Goodness! What on earth happened?!"

Daniel looked at Rosie and Laura, trying to think of an appropriate reason. "He, er, had a bad case of bat-infection," he said. "Now, where can we take him?"

Dr Peck took them down into the hospital to a special isolation ward for very critically ill people. It contained a number of small rooms with reinforced glass to protect those working outside. Langstrom was then placed in the one at the very end of the room. Daniel and Laura stayed outside whilst Rosie, Dr Peck and the nurses worked to check him over and give him some clean hospital clothes.

"You know something, Dad?" Laura said.

"Hmm?"

"We've seen a lot of things since we've been running this operation. But this is something different. I don't think there's ever been a case like this before anywhere in the world."

"And hopefully never again," agreed Daniel. "Let's hope that the cure is permanent."

Rosie then came out with Dr Peck and the nurses. Dr Peck and the nurses headed off for a meeting but Rosie stayed with Daniel and Laura. The three stood by the glass looking in at Langstrom. He was starting to regain consciousness and was now sitting up on the bed.

"Is he going to be okay?" Laura asked.

"Physically, yes," Rosie replied. "Mentally…I severely doubt that, sadly."

Just then Langstrom began to mutter. Then he looked up and stared at them. He was shivering badly, which was probably a mix of being frightened and cold. "W…where am I?" he asked nervously. "W…who are you people?" Then he recognised the woman in the white uniform with Red Cross. "Rosie? Is…is that you?"

"Hello, Kirk," said Rosie. "Yes, it's me."

"Where am I?" Langstrom asked. "Who are those two next to you?"

"You're in St Thomas's Hospital Isolation Ward," said Rosie. "They are from International Rescue."

Langstrom was getting more nervous and confused. "Why am I here?" he asked. "Where's Francine?"

There was a pause. Rosie looked at Daniel and Laura. A horrible feeling swelled through them. They were dreading this moment.

"Do you want me to tell him?" Daniel asked.

Rosie hesitated, then shook her head. "No, it's okay," she said. She cleared her throat and then broke the bad news to Langstrom. "I'm so sorry, Kirk. Francine's dead."

Langstrom stared. "No!" he cried. "She can't be! HOW?!"

Rosie opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her voice seemed to have vanished.

Daniel stepped forwards. "It was the serum, Dr Langstrom," he said. "It changed you. You lost control of your actions."

It was only now that Langstrom began to remember. Memories started to appear of him and Francine running experiments in their lab. Then came the one of him getting into the testing chair and then all the mixed feelings of his mind with that of the Man-Bats. There came a vision of attacking some children in a street, one of lunging at a helicopter, one of a giant yellow tower crane and several of bright flashing lights from strange flying machines.

"No…" Langstrom cried. "NO! What have I done?!" He turned away, collapsed completely onto his bed, burying his face in the sheets and pounding his fist against the pillows. "What have I done? What have I done? My sweet, sweet, Francine! BOOOOOOOOOHOOHOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Rosie had to move away. She too was beginning to shed tears. Daniel and Laura exchanged sad looks.

"Come on, Laura," said Daniel putting his arm around his eldest daughter. "There's nothing more we can do for him."

Laura nodded sadly in agreement and they turned before walking away from the glass. They found Rosie sobbing halfway down the room, but she didn't need much persuasion to be walked away.

* * *

Upon returning to Thunderbird 1, Daniel and Rosie sat themselves in the passenger seats behind Laura's. She then fired up its engines and lifted off from the hospital's helipad. Thunderbird 1 then turned around and raced away from London heading back towards Tracy Island.

Daniel looked at Rosie. He'd never seen her look so upset. "Don't beat yourself up, Rosie," he said. "You are the one who saved him, after all."

Rosie sniffed and tried wiping her eyes. "Did I, Mr Tracy?" she asked. "Thanks to me he knows his wife is no longer around. Francine meant the world to him, and now she's gone, so is his sanity. He'll never be the same again."

"He'd have found out sooner or later," Daniel said. "You did all you could."

"And besides, if you hadn't come up with that antidote, he'd still be trapped inside that bat-creature," added Laura. "At least he doesn't have that torture anymore."

Rosie sniffed again. "There is that, I suppose," she said. "But it doesn't make it any easier."

"You did all you could and nobody can ask anymore of you, Rosie," said Daniel. "The same goes with all us at International Rescue." He paused as he reached under the seat. He then pulled out a large packet of McVitie's Chocolate Digestive Biscuits. "Here you go," he said.

Rosie's eyes lit up suddenly. "Ooooooooh!" she said before snatching the packet off him. "Mine!"

Daniel and Laura chuckled. This was the Rosie they knew.


End file.
